StarCraft II Petition Hits 55K

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Fans asking Blizzard to put LAN back into RTS game.

By Jason Ocampo

Online petitions may seem a dime a dozen, but the petition to Blizzard Entertainment to restore LAN support in StarCraft II has more than a handful of respondents. A lot more. As of Monday afternoon, there were more than 56,625 "signatures" on the petition, which began after Blizzard late last month announced that it would not support LAN play in its upcoming real-time strategy sequel. Instead, the company said that it would only support multiplayer through its Battle.net online service. Indeed, Blizzard plans a massive overhaul to Battle.net for StarCraft II, with enhanced stat tracking, improved spectating features, and more.

According to the petition, the reasons to keep LAN support are many. "LAN is what birthed SC popularity in the first place," is one point. LAN allows lag-free multiplayer with friends is another. A third is that it allows you to play when Battle.net is not an option. Then there's a simple matter of choice; eliminating LAN play reduces choice.

When contacted about the petition, Blizzard declined to comment aside from what it originally stated last month.